A Bond Like No Other
by theloverofdragons
Summary: 'Even half a world away from each other we still have a bond like no other. We are like the Moon and the Sun. The Sun still lights up the Moon even a world away. And the Moon would never leave the Sun.' Zutara Week 2017; Fire Lady, Underwater, Steamy, Icarus, Modern Times, Soulmates, Starlight
1. Fire Lady

**Disclaimer: I own as much as Jon Snow knows**

* * *

It was years of waterbending training, battle-honed reflexes, and growing up with Sokka as a brother which prevented Katara from jumping when a small, dark head poked round the door of the office.

Zuko was not so successful.

Katara took a moment to snigger at her husband (who was noisily shuffling papers in a futile attempt to cover up the yelp he had made), before turning her attention to their visitor. "Is everything alright, Kaida?"

Their eldest daughter fidgeted at the door for a moment, before fully entering the room. "Mum…Dad…I am gonna become Fire Lord, right?"

Zuko frowned, and put down his papers. "Of course you're going to become Fire Lord, Kaida. You're our eldest child, and on top of that, you're a firebender. Why would you think that you wouldn't?"

Kaida bit her lip. "Well, see…cos Siluk and Yue and Nanook haven't arrived yet, I was chatting with some of the other kids who are here, when these three boys from the Northern Water Tribe came up and started bragging about how _noble_ they was, and how they outranked us and was more important."

"What for?" Zuko frowned, as the three of them moved from their positions by desks or by the door, to the futon which was seated by the fireplace.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Probably because they could. The Northern Water Tribe has gotten better in its attitudes towards its hierarchy and women since I studied there during the war, but it's still got a long way to go."

"Yeah, well," Kaida huffed as she crawled into her father's lap. "I told them that they didn't outrank me, because they _don't_ , and they said they did because they were practically princes. So I told them that I actually was a princess, the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation. But for some reason they thought that Ukiuk was the heir to the throne, which is stupid cos – like you said Dad – _I'm_ the eldest. So I said they were wrong, and I was going to become Fire Lord one day and rule over the whole Fire Nation, but they said that couldn't happen, because I'm a girl."

Katara stroked her daughter's hair soothingly. "Sweetheart, 'Fire Lord' doesn't necessarily have to be a gender-orientated title. Yes, for the most part it's the title used for a male ruler of the Fire Nation, but there have been female Fire Lords in the past."

"I told them that!" Kaida made a frustrated noise. "But they said that I could only become Fire Lady, and the Fire Lord would be who I married," here she made a face, "so _he_ would be the one who ruled over the Fire Nation. I told them they was wrong, and that's not how it works in the Fire Nation, but they didn't believe me."

Zuko snorted. "Shows how much they know. You're right; that's not how it works in the Fire Nation. Because you're the heir to the throne, the title and powers of the Fire Lord are yours by right. Your mother is the Fire Lady because she married me, the Fire Lord, and the person you marry – if you marry at all – will be known as 'Prince', so that their title doesn't clash with yours."

"And anyway," Katara added. "Being Fire Lady is pretty important, and carries a lot of influence in terms of ruling, and helping people. I'm pretty happy being Fire Lady, aren't I?"

"I know, Mum," Kaida nodded her head vigorously. "You're, like, the greatest Fire Lady ever in the history of the Fire Nation, and the whole world!"

"I second that," Zuko interjected, causing Katara to flush slightly, and swat him on the shoulder for his dorkiness.

"That's not what annoyed me," Kaida continued. "It's the fact that they said ' _only_ Fire Lady', as if it's a weak title that has no authority behind it, when I know that's not true!"

"Of course not!" Katara huffed. "Yes there's a lot of responsibility that goes with it, especially when you're taking care of the Fire Nation, which is why a lot of my projects centre around hospitals, and schools, and other institutions which look after people. But you still have a lot of power, which means you can help with running the Fire Nation, you're able to implement your plans to help people, and you also get to boss around the councillors."

"Besides," Zuko added. "Some female Fire Lords did choose to be referred to as 'Fire Lady' and it didn't diminish their authority at all. So next time some jumped up little Northern Water Tribe boy tells you that you can 'only' be Fire Lady, you tell him that the title doesn't matter; you're still the boss."

Kaida giggled. "Thank you, Mum. Thank you, Dad. I _knew_ being Fire Lady is just as awesome as being Fire Lord!" And with that, she hopped off the couch and sauntered out of the office.

"She's right, you know," Zuko said to his wife, as the door shut behind the Crown Princess. "You are the greatest Fire Lady in the world. You've helped the Fire Nation – and me – so much, especially with getting us back on our feet after the war."

"You know me; I'll never turn my back on people who need me," Katara rested her head on his shoulder. "Ending the war was one thing, but we also need to help people rebuild in order to make a better world for all of us, and our children. I've found that being Fire Lady has really benefitted our efforts; it has that extra authority which opens up doors, which beforehand could have taken quite a long time, and really allows us to help people to the fullest extent. It can just be hard sometimes, especially when overcoming old attitudes, in all the nations."

"Oh they'll find out soon enough," Zuko kissed the top of her head. "Since you were crowned, people have been learning a whole new respect for the title of Fire Lady."

* * *

 **A.N. It's that time of year again ^.^ Happy Zutara Week!**


	2. Underwater

**Disclaimer: I own as much as Jon Snow knows**

* * *

"Are you for real?!" Katara's blue eyes shone with excitement. "There are underwater caves around Ember Island?"

Zuko shrugged. "So I've been told. Thing is, I don't actually know where they are. Lu Ten said he would show me when I was older, but…" he trailed off, and his eyes became haunted.

"Lu Ten knew a lot about Ember Island, huh?" Katara asked quickly, before he could withdraw into his bad memories (the only person Zuko talked less about that Lu Ten was his mother).

Zuko blinked, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "Oh yeah. He knew the island like the back of his hand. Uncle too. Because I was so young, he was only able to show me a few things around the house, like how to climb on the roof – nearly gave my mother a heart attack when she saw us up there – but like I said, he was going to show me more when I was old enough."

"I think we should go looking for them," Katara rested her head on his shoulder. "Perhaps not right now; we have a war to win and an Avatar to train after all, but when we come back to Ember Island, because I for one would love to come back and see the island properly. Maybe it could be honouring Lu Ten's memory, in some way. And we can start with those underwater caves."

"I would like that," Zuko replied softly. "Of course, underwater caves aren't the only hidden things around here. Lu Ten also told me about hot springs deep within the forest, volcanic caves where you can find all sorts of gemstones, and reefs deep underwater which you can't see from the surface."

Katara's eyes widened. "I had no idea there was so much hidden under the water."

Zuko hesitated slightly, before reaching over and squeezing her hand. "That's the thing I've noticed with water. While it appears to be one thing on the surface, it has depths that you didn't even realise were there. They can really change your perspective. And to find them, all you have to do it look."


	3. Steamy

**Disclaimer: I own as much as Jon Snow knows**

* * *

"The doctors are happy with how your surgery went," Katara informed Zuko, as she pulled him by the hand down the streets of the Northern Water Tribe in the direction of the house the Gaang were staying in.

"Then how come they insisted on keeping me in the healing huts for an extra three days?" Zuko grumbled.

Katara rolled her eyes. "To give you sufficient time to recover from the immediate effects of the surgery somewhere they could keep an eye on you if anything went wrong. But everything went fine, and you only have to wear them for four weeks so your eyes can adjust, and everything will be fine."

Zuko scowled and pushed the frames of his new glasses up his nose. "I get the necessity of having this operation to decrease the damage my scar will have on my eyesight, but I was not told that I would have to wear glasses as a result of it!"

"Oh stop whining," Katara opened the front door of their temporary quarters. "Besides, I think you look cute in them." She grinned at his blush, and pulled him through the doorway.

"Welcome back, Sparky!" Toph lunged for them as soon as they entered the spacious room which they had decided to be the leisure area. "Did ya miss me while you were recovering?" She landed a solid punch on Zuko's arm.

Suki rolled her eyes good naturedly at the earthbender and the firebender, who was wincing and rubbing his arm. "He just got out of the healing huts Toph, don't put him back in. In all serious though, Zuko, welcome back. Did the surgery go alright?"

"We made you a small feast!" Aang burst out in excitement, as he and Sokka stepped aside to reveal a table laden with dishes. "We were even able to persuade the cooks to make Fire Nation delicacies!"

Katara smiled. "Yes, the surgery went fine; he's got a few more weeks of recovery but then back to normal. And thank you so much Aang, this all looks wonderful! Doesn't it Zuko?"

"Just give me a second," Zuko replied meekly. Frowning, Katara (and the others except Toph) turned to face her boyfriend, only to find that the lenses of his glasses had completely steamed up. His cheeks reddened further.

"Oh," Katara blinked. "Well. That happened."

"It's probably the change in temperature," Sokka nodded wisely, helping himself to a skewer of turtle-seal meat. "He went from the freezing outside to the warm inside, which will have caused his glasses to fog up. They should go back to normal in a couple of minutes."

"And I don't think that blush is helping either," Suki added.

* * *

In the following weeks after his surgery, Zuko had to not only adjust to wearing glasses (which he was fine with), but also the lenses' tendency to steam up (which he was not so fine with). Even when they returned to the Fire Nation from the Northern Water Tribe (where the mere act of walking inside would have them steam up like a sauna), it didn't stop; resulting in Zuko donning what Katara referred to as his 'Royal Pout'.

(A name he, of course, disputed. No matter how much the waterbender insisted, he did _not_ pout.)

It didn't help that they steamed up at _every damn thing_ , whether it be cooking or doing the dishes, exhaling into a cup of tea, or even just putting them on in the morning, when they had cooled and his naturally increased warmth as a firebender did him no favours.

He was kind of on the fence in regards to the impact sparring with Katara had; the new challenges in the increased lack of vision from steam helped in keeping his other senses sharp. As Uncle Iroh would say, 'if a man becomes too dependent on one flavour of tea, he loses his appreciation for the others, just as vital'…or something.

Katara, of course, was delighted. Zuko pouting was cute, Zuko in glasses was cuter; and so Zuko pouting while wearing glasses was a whole new level of adorableness that she was determined to make the most of while it lasted (fortunately for her, it occurred quite often).

Fair to say, Zuko was relieved when the four week post-surgery adjustment period ended, and the palace physician cleared him to not have to wear glasses anymore, prompting him to put them in their case, hand it to the nearest guard and order him to lock them in a safe _far away from him_.

Katara raised her eyebrow. "Don't you think that's a bit of an overreaction?"

"Nope," Zuko sat down next to her on the futon. "Don't get me wrong, for the most part they were fine, but I could not handle them constantly steaming up at the littlest thing, and then having to wait for it to go so I could see again. Agni, I think I'm sick of steam."

Katara pouted. "Sick of steam? But that's our _thing_! Team Liquidy-Hot! You're fire, I'm water; together we make steam! You like it when it things get steamy between us…in all senses of the word!"

Zuko sighed. "Yes, I know it's our thing. I'm not saying I don't like our thing. I'm just saying I think I need a bit of a break from too much literal steam."

Katara continued pouting, before an idea popped into her mind, and her eyes took on a mischievous glint. Standing up from the futon, she grabbed her boyfriend's hand, pulled him up after her and began marching him down the corridor.

"Uh, Katara?" Zuko's eyebrow rose as he realised they were heading in the direction of their bedroom. "What are you doing?"

Katara smirked. "Restoring your faith in the _advantages_ of steam."


	4. Icarus

**Disclaimer: I own as much as Jon Snow knows**

* * *

"There's this story that my Gran Gran used to tell me and Sokka, about the boy who flew too close to the sun."

Zuko turned his head to look at her, and Katara took that as an invitation to continue. She leaned back against the rock they were sitting against, looking out onto the sea surrounding Ember Island, and closed her eyes.

"There was this brilliant inventor who was being imprisoned by an evil king, and made to build him all kind of evil…things…like this labyrinth to imprison a monster, but that's a whole other story. Anyway, to ensure the inventor's cooperation, the evil king also imprisoned the inventor's son with him in this massive tower; and they couldn't leave by land or by sea because the evil king kept track of all transport.

"But the brilliant inventor was, well, brilliant at inventing, and was obviously going to come up with a way to escape. So he built these wings for him and his son out of feathers and wax, which they could use to fly away. Before they set off, however, the inventor warned his son not to fly too close to the sea or the sun; the sea spray would make the wings too heavy to fly, and the heat from the sun would melt the wax and make the wings fall apart.

"However, while they were flying away, the son let it go to his head and despite his father's warning, flew higher and higher until he flew too close to the sun and, like the inventor said, the wax melted, his wings disintegrated and he fell from the sky, hit the ocean and drowned."

Zuko raised his eyebrow. "Wow. Cheerful."

She blushed slightly. "Yeah, it wasn't really meant as a bedtime story. Instead, it highlights the issues of both complacency and hubris; flying too low makes you lose the ability to fly at all, and flying too high will make you crash and burn."

He was silent for a couple of minutes after she finished speaking, with only the sound of the waves crashing against the shore to fill the air, before he let out a wry laugh.

Katara frowned slightly. "What?"

Zuko shook his head. "I was just thinking…your story could also apply to the nations. The issue of complacency, of flying too close to the sea…that reminds me of Ba Sing Se; of how they got so used to pretending the war didn't even exist, leading to kind of corruption which the Dai Li used to rise to power right under the Earth King's nose, and what Azula then used to take the city down from the inside.

"And then the issue of arrogance, flying too close to the sun…for the past hundred years the Fire Nation has been hubristic enough to believe that it is superior, and must 'civilise' the other nations. Views created and encouraged by the Fire Lords, my family. Sozin, Azulon, Ozai and Azula…hell _I_ believed it for most of my life. If it wasn't for my uncle, and seeing for myself how things truly are, I would probably still think that way.

"And now our wings are burning, and we won't realise it until we fall out of the sky and hit the sea."

Before she spent time in the Fire Nation, Katara probably would have agreed with him. However, she had gotten to know the human side of the nation she thought of as evil for so long – and the human side of the Fire Prince sitting next to her.

"No," she said firmly, even as Zuko turned to look at her in surprise. "The Fire Lords have flown too close to the sun, and their arrogance will be their undoing; when the comet comes, Aang will defeat the Fire Lord, with our help, and end the war. But the Fire Nation itself isn't flying too close to the sun," she rested her head on his shoulder. "It's trapped, and it just needs help to escape. And we can help them – _you_ can help them. We can build them wings, so they can be free."


	5. Modern Times

**Disclaimer: I own as much as Jon Snow knows**

* * *

"I'm pretty sure that's _my_ hoodie," Zuko commented, as he slid into the seat opposite Katara.

"It _was_ your hoodie," she corrected with a smirk, casually stirring the tea sitting in front of her.

He raised his eyebrow. "When I started dating you, I did not realise that I would face the prospect of my favourite hoodie being repossessed."

"Oh calm down Sparky, I'll probably give it back…eventually."

"That does not inspire much confidence."

"Oh whatever," Katara smirked again, and took a sip of her tea. "You're lucky I love you."

"Yeah," he replied softly, reaching over and intertwining their fingers. "I really am."

She flushed. "Dork," she muttered, although she did squeeze the hand nestled in hers. "How's your shift been going?" she added, looking around the green and gold interior of the Jasmine Dragon.

Zuko shrugged. "Not too bad. Uncle says he's found a new blend of tea that he thinks we should try. And by 'we', he does of course mean 'he'."

Katara smiled. "That sounds like something Iroh would do."

He rolled his eyes affectionately. "To be honest, I'm not even surprised anymore. But it makes Uncle happy, and that's what matters."

"We're _all_ happy when Iroh's happy," she laughed. "It's contagious. Speaking of being happy, are you still on for tonight?"

Zuko smirked. "Oh, definitely. There's no way I'm missing movie night. It's a – what does Sokka call it? – 'Gaang Tradition'."

"Oh yes; it's one of our most sacred," Katara smiled fondly. "Just hanging out together with food, a movie and then games or whatever afterwards ever two weeks? Doesn't get much better than that. This time, it's at Suki's."

"Thank Agni," Zuko snorted. "I trust Suki to pick out a decent movie. The last one we watched…that wasn't a good movie."

Katara frowned. "Okay, so _The Boy in the Iceberg_ was a pretty big let-down, especially considering we'd all read the book it was based on, but it wasn't all bad! Like Sokka said, the effects were decent!"

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Any movie made by Ember Island Players Studio is dreadful. I mean, I _told_ you how badly they butchered _Love Amongst the Dragons_. The bit where we paused the movie to get more snacks was the best part of it."

"I have to agree with you there," she took a last sip of her tea. "Well, I'd better get back home. Sokka says he wants to bake a cake or something for Suki, and I need to make sure that he doesn't get too adventurous with the ingredients or burn the house down or something."

"Good timing; my break's nearly over. Have fun with babysitting Sokka."

"Oh shut up," Katara rolled her eyes, before leaning forward and brushing her lips against his. "See you at Suki's for the movie. Don't be late."

Zuko smiled. "Wouldn't miss it."


	6. Soulmates

**Disclaimer: I own as much as Jon Snow knows**

* * *

Katara's soulmate tattoo was…unconventional.

For most people in her tribe, the first words their soulmate would say to them were profound, romantic, and magical. Even Sokka had a simple yet sweet one; _Very nice to meet you_.

Katara's?

 _Man, I can't believe Shu died._

For the longest time, Katara worried about this Shu person and their inevitable death. Who were they? What was their life like? Did they have any idea what was coming? Who would miss them when they were gone?

Then, when she was twelve, on one of the Southern Water Tribe's trips to negotiate trade deals, everything became clear.

They were in the city of Omashu when it was announced that a prestigious Earth Kingdom theatre group, as a special gift to their guests, would be performing a four-part production ('one part every year to keep you on your toes' as the…eccentric King Bumi put it) of the history of Omashu; namely the tale of the city's founders, Oma and Shu.

Katara fumed.

For the next three years when she and her family and the other nations' representatives would go to the theatre to watch Oma and Shu meet, fall in love, learn earthbending and build their secret tunnel, she would sulk in silence, knowing that the whole tale was ruined for her thanks to her _stupid soulmate_.

Finally, it got to the penultimate part and Shu ended up dying, to the surprise of everyone but Katara. She left the theatre in a foul mood, ignoring the chatter of everyone around her about how they 'weren't expecting that at all'.

In her peripheral vision, she saw dark hair and a red scar, when all of a sudden, she heard it.

"Man, I can't believe Shu died."

Katara gritted her teeth; rage welling up in her at those words as her arm tingled, confirming her suspicions. Without thinking, she whirled around and jabbed her finger at the guy who had spoken.

"You! You're the one!"

The guy's eyes – which she now noticed were a lovely shade of gold – widened. Slowly, he reached down, rolled up his sleeve, and read the words tattooed there before looking back up at her, a blush coating his cheeks.

"That's not really how I imagined that being said."

* * *

 **A.N. Inspired by this post: l** **ittlelions101. tumblr. com post/161426669018/adramofpoison-dondaario-so-if-in-the-soulmate**


	7. Starlight

**Disclaimer: I own as much as Jon Snow knows**

* * *

The beach they were laying on was close enough to the village that they could hear the sounds of laughter and music, but far away enough that the light from the lanterns wouldn't distract from that of the stars.

"It was a beautiful wedding, wasn't it?" Katara broke the comfortable silence.

Zuko nodded. "Yeah, it was. Sokka and Suki looked so happy."

"Suki told me she's always wanted a wedding under the starlight," Katara sighed, raising her hand to trace the positions of the stars in the sky. "And I think Sokka became more receptive to the idea because it would mean that Yue can watch over them."

"I never met Yue," Zuko said quietly, tentatively resting his hand on her one which was resting in the sand in between their bodies. "But from what I've heard of her, from both you and Sokka, she'd want him to be happy."

"She would," Katara agreed, turning her hand over and squeezing his. "And he is, and so is Suki. And if they're happy, so are all of us. And the setting is just so beautiful. Tonight is so clear, and you can see so many stars. I've always loved looking at the stars, from when we were still in the South Pole, to when we were travelling. I guess that maybe it's because, as a waterbender, night time's always been special, and also because everything looks so beautiful in the starlight."

"I used to look at the stars too. Especially at the start of my banishment; they made me feel more centred and it brought back good memories of watching the stars back by the turtleduck pond, sometimes with my mother, sometimes alone. And you're right, everything does look more beautiful in the starlight, especially how the stars were reflected in the pond water," he hesitated, before slowly wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. "If you'd like…I could show you?"

She smiled, manoeuvring herself so she was able to rest her head on his shoulder. "I'd like that."

* * *

 **And so Zutara Week ends for another year *sobs* Huge thanks to zutaraweek over on tumblr for running it, and to everyone who participated, you're all so talented *throws cookies to everyone***


End file.
